The Command to Leave Sinai
(Deuteronomy 1:1–8)

1And YHWH said to Moses, “Depart, go up from this place, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘To your seed I will give it.’ 2And I will send before your face an angel, and I will drive out the Canaanite, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”

4And the people heard this bad word, and they mourned; and no man put his ornaments on himself. 5And YHWH had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You⁺ are a stiff-necked people. In one moment I will come up into your midst and I will consume you. And now put down your ornaments from on you, and I will know what I shall do to you.’”

6And the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb.†

The Tent of Meeting

7And Moses took the tent and he pitched it outside of the camp, far from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting. And it came to pass that everyone seeking YHWH went out to the Tent of Meeting that was outside the camp. 8And it came to pass, as Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose, and each man stood at the door of his tent and they looked after Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9And it came to pass, as Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and it remained at the door of the tabernacle, and He talked with Moses. 10And all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the door of the tent; and all the people rose and bowed down, each man, at the door of his tent.

11And YHWH would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, and his minister, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the midst of the tent.

The Promise of God’s Presence

12And Moses said to YHWH, “See, You are saying to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ and You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. And You, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and also you have found favor in My eyes.’ 13And now if, please, I have found favor in Your eyes, make known to me, please, Your ways, and I shall know You, in order that I may find favor in Your eyes. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

14And He said, “My Presence will go with you and I will give rest to you.”

15And he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from this place. 16And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, and we will be distinguished—I and Your people—from all the people who are upon the face of the earth?”

17And YHWH said to Moses, “Also this word that you have spoken, I will do, for you have found favor in My eyes, and I know you by name.”

18And he said, “Show me, please, Your glory.”

19And He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass before your face, and I will proclaim in the name of YHWH before your face, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.†”

20And He said, “You are not able to see My face, for a man shall not see Me and live.”

21And YHWH said, “Behold, a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22And it shall be, when My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover My palm over you until I pass by. 23And I will take away My palm, and you shall see My back, and My face shall not be seen.”